Die Bricke Wochenschau: Soldiers from history

Welcome again. Today I want to celebrate with you that we have hit the 1000 subscribers milestone on YouTube. I have chosen some kind of soldiers across the history to include them in a special video. Most of the minifigs are new for this video using some ideas I had over the last years for possible projects. It's a mix of units with many wars represented incluiding both world wars of course. So let's start in order from the oldest to the newest.

First minifig to start this post is the Late Empire Roman soldier. Years 300-500 AD. Roman army was smaller and equipment was more irregular among the ranks. Shields had a round or oval shape now. For the minifig I modified a "Battle Helmet" from Brick Forge cutting the crest and the dots on the sides then painting it using Tamiya paint. I used a Lego Castle torso and the legs cloth is from Capes4minifigs. The spear is from AliExpress painted by me. Probably my favourite minifig here.

Reference pictures:

Source: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/346214290079026365/

Source: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/301881981249449929/

Second minifig is a Late Empire Roman officer. Almost the same but they had more resources. Helmet keeps the crest this time and torso is from Lego Minifigure Series Spartan.

Reference picture here:

Source: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/111604896996437791/

Next ones are one of the enemies of Rome: the Huns. They were tribes coming from Asia lead by the famous Attila. Rome and its allies stopped them at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains at 451 AD. Here you can see two of them.

Reference picture. Source: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/381398662174222930/

Now Attila the Hun itself. No reference pictures this time since info about him and how he looked like is limited. All are Lego parts.

Next one is the Varangian Guard. They were vikings who formed an elite personnal guard of the Byzantine emperor and existed between the 10th and 14th century. One of my favourite figs here. Cape is from AliExpress. The helmet is from Brick Forge and the rest of the parts are LEGO ones. Torso is from Lego Castle.

Reference picture. As you can see they were almost like any other viking living in the north of Europe.

Source: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/47147127336739734/

Turn for the crusader. This minifigure is a mix of AliExpress parts with Lego head and hands (I never use AliExpress heads and hands by the way). They fought against muslims for the holy land of the Middle East. I'm not really interested in the Middle Ages but I have some ideas for the future using the Crusades topic.

Source: https://the-past.com/feature/crusader-strategy-a-contradiction-in-terms/

Now the Spanish Tercios. The rulers of Europe and world in the 1500s and 1600s. Their new tactics made them famous across the world. They used long pikes together with firearms of course. Their battles include Lepanto, Pavia, Rocroi, Empel or Cagayán where they fought against Japanese samurais. All the minifig uses Lego original parts. Made it a year ago for a Vienna siege MOC but I lost interest in the idea.

Reference picture. Source: https://www.lavanguardia.com/historiayvida/edad-moderna/20200408/48334282270/tercios-imperio-espanol-austrias-carlos-v-flandes-rocroi.html

Next one is the samurai. They were the warrior class of the Japanese society. Minifig is done using Lego parts and the armor is a painted one from BrickWarriors. In the future you will see more samurai minifigs here hopefully.

Reference picture:

Source: https://archfitstore.com/blogs/blog/entrenamiento-samurai

Napoleonic Wars must be represented too. I have chosen an Italian soldier. Fig is from AliExpress and I have painted the bag and added the tail of the jacket I got from Capes4Minifigs.

The one in the middle is the reference. Source: https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/550705860663502184/

Now it's time for some Crimean War minifigs. First one will be the British regular infantry. Torso is from an AliExpress Napoleonic Wars British soldier. Cap is from my friend @labriquedecambronne. You can find him at Instagram. I used Tamiya paint for both the cap and the legs. Painted musket is from Brickarms.

Reference picture. Here you can see a soldier and an officer.

Source: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/453596993694126239/

Now the Grenadier Guard. Coat is from ValiantBricks. Gun is from AliExpress belonging to a Napoleonic Wars soldier.

Reference picture. Source: https://www.britishbattles.com/crimean-war/battle-of-inkerman/

Finally the Russian standard soldier from this war. As a cap uses a Pickelhaube from AliExpress since the German cap and the Russian one from the 1850s are very similar. Coat is from the Russian Napoleonic Wars soldier from AliExpress. Backpack is hand painted.

Reference picture. Source: https://warlord-community.warlordgames.com/crimea-punishment-russian-army-crimean-war/

Now a Danish soldier from the Second Schleswig War. In this war Prussia and Denmark fought for the second time for some territories in their borders. Here you can see a Danish soldier. Musket and backpack are hand painted. All the minifig uses Lego parts you can find at Bricklink except from the waist black part which is from Arealight Custom Works. One of the coolest minifigs here if you ask me.

Reference picture. Theres a TV series about this war called 1864 which is very good and I recommend it if you are interested in this war.

Source: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/709739222502924022/

Next minifig is a British Highlander from the Second Anglo-Afghan War fought between 1878 and 1880. Kilt is from AliExpress. The suspenders are from BrickWarriors and they are hand painted. Legs painted by me too. Torso is from a Lego Indiana Jones minifig. So useful to create minifigs.Very happy with this one and I hope I can make a MOC in the future using them. Gun should be a Martini Henry but I have none.

Reference picture of a Gordon Highlander:

Source: https://ru.pinterest.com/pin/75505731234673607/

To continue now we have a British soldier from the same era but fighting in the south of Africa. To be exact in the Zulu Wars. Legs are hand painted. Torso is from AliExpress. Suspenders like the previous minifig are from BrickWarriors and painted by me. Again the gun should be a Martini Henry from Brickarms. Uniforms from the 19th century have something special.

Reference picture.

Now the Zulu warrior. They had some old muskets but mostly spears and shields. A very interesting war and I guess you will see more content about it coming from me in the future. The minifig uses a Star Wars Gungan shield I painted and a spear I got from AliExpress and I painted too.

Source: https://www.1-72depot.com/es/1-72-scale-plastic-model-kits/figures/6051-zulu-warriors/

Turn for the Japanese soldier from the Russo-Japanese War. Legs and cap are painted like the gun from Brickarms. Suspenders are from Brickwarriors again and the rest you can find it at Bricklink. For the Japanese uniform M1886 I used a Lone Ranger torso which works perfect for these kind of French style uniforms from the 1800s.

Reference picture:

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddeadfashion/comments/wurt82/imperial_japanese_soldier_russojapanese_war/

For the next one I thought World War 1 must be represented in the video and I wanted to use one of my favourite minifigs from the war. This French soldier from 1917 uses a cloth from Brickfabric and suspenders from Brickwarriors. Helmet and the Lebel gun painted by me are from Brickarms. I can make 2 of them so I would like to do a little scene with them in the future.

Reference picture:

Source: https://ca.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitxer:French_soldier_uniform_WWI.jpg

Now turn for World War 2. We start seeing first the US Tanker in the tropical uniform they used in the Pacific theather of war. Body is from AliExpress with Lego head and hands and helmet is from Brickmania if I remember well.

Reference picture:

Source: https://www.ebay.com/itm/180697694696

Now a German general. I got some clothes like these not long ago and I love this minifig. Clothes and cap are from AliExpress. Rest of the parts are from Lego. One of the cheapest minifigs here but still one of the coolest I would say.

Reference picture. Source: https://no.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:WW2_German_Wehrmacht_army_uniforms_in_Norway_1940._General,_private_infantryman._Overcoats,_boots,_etc._Forsvarsmuseet_%28Armed_Forces_Museum%29_Oslo_2019-03-31_DSC01546.jpg

Now a curious minifig I'm sure you didn't expect. A Dutch soldier from 1940 when they fought against the Germans. SimpleFigs is the creator of the helmet. I bought it at Brickssoldier. They sell pretty interesting stuff and I recommend you check them out. Body is from Lego and I added a Roaglaan decal on it. They work amazingly but sadly he doesn't sell anymore as far as I know.

Reference picture. Source: https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/381961612138706051/

Now Vietnam War. We have the Vietcong one first. Vest is from AliExpress and I painted it. Rest of the minifigs use parts you can easily find at Bricklink since they are all Lego and nothing special. A cool simple and cheap minifig. Gun is a Brickarms AKM I modified and painted.

Reference picture. Source: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/738660776352569029/

Now the NVA soldier. NVA was the army from North Vietnam. Body is from Lego Indiana Jones and gun is again a painted AKM from Brickarms. Again the vest is a painted one from AliExpress.

Reference picture:

Source: https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/310466968057550019/

Rhodesian soldier now. Rhodesia had a very interesting story I recommend you to search for. The little I know I find it so interesting and I wanted to show you this minifig. Body is the only parts I own from TMC. Cap is from Brickarms and I painted it kinda like a Woodland camo one. I tried to. Vest is from AliExpress and unpainted. Gun is a FN FAL from Brickarms.

Reference picture.

Source: https://www.pinterest.fr/amr_history8/rhodesia-military-uniforms/

Now some minifigs I doubted whether to use them or not. They are four minifigs related to the never ending problems in the Middle East. With them we will finish this post. First one is the Syrian soldier from the 1980s. They fought in the Lebanon in their civil war. Body is from AliExpress with a WW2 Soviet helmet from BrickArms.

Reference picture.

Source: https://www.pinterest.fr/patrickinnerst/syrian-army-1980s/

Now a Muslim paramilitary trooper. It fits for several factions and different decades. Headgear is hand-painted by me and the rest of the body are Lego parts. I used it in my Beirut 1982 MOC.

There isn't a reference picture for this minifig. But I took inspiration from this picture. I own the original book from Lebanon's civil war (1982) and it's very useful for these lesser known uniforms. Most of the artwork I use here is from Osprey books by the way.

Source: https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/667658713478048358/

Now soldier from Israel. The IDF army. First a tank crewman. Helmet is a painted Star Wars Rebel pilot helmet. Body is olive green parts with a Roaglaan decal applied on the torso. Gun is a Mini UZI with a silencer. IDF tank crews use/used them.